I have debilitating insomnia issues where I cannot sleepFor 4-10 night

Posted by mkean1250help @mkean1250help, Aug 17 12:00pm

I have debilitating insomnia issues at 75 years of age. I have had these my adult life., it is so debilitating that I cannot even drive my car or go about my daily routines because my head is spinning around and I feel like I’m literally drunk intoxicated, however, I am not
I have been given every drug by a different doctors along the way and each one of them has had major side effects, including Ambien. I just want to know I’m not the only one who is sitting up night after night after night in my bed crying because I cannot shut my brain down. I have had some thoughts of suicide lately because I get so sad about the situation that I cannot control.

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Profile picture for hobby @hobby

@eryanfrank Iam curious what kind of “further testing “ you would be looking for, after the sleep study? To my knowledge, the sleep study IS the testing. I am not aware of anything else. If the sleep study showed no signs of serious issues such as sleep apneas or narcolepsy or other serious health problems, then there’s nothing left to test for. We would all love to be able to sleep without having to take anything to aid us but if we could do that, then we wouldn’t have insomnia. We would be sleeping like so called “ normal people”
Unfortunately there is not yet a cure for insomnia and most often the medical community has no idea what is causing it. Be glad that CBD with THC works for you! Lots of people, myself included, have not found anything that is consistently effective.

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@hobby
I am waiting for a solution to my sleep problem! I have had it since I was 65 and put on PremPro by my foolish Doctor for 25 years. I asked and asked to stop and the response I got was, "My WIFE is on it...Isn't that good enough for you?" Finally, after years & years, a long, long length of time, he called and said there was a "new meeting" and I should stop the pill. I did, BUT now I have to take a sleeping pill to sleep at ALL! Have never slept without a drug since...even after two sleepless nights, no sleep, so I "rest!" I give in the third night, AND pill! NEVER CAN SLEEP DURING THE DAY!! The most I sleep is 4&1/2 hours WITH PILLS!. Yep, I am miserable! Frankly, I have three serious medical problems, all caused by Doctors errors! Now, I ALWAYS get three MEDICAL opinions, BUT IT IS TOO LATE! I learned the HARD WAY! ANY NEW SOLUTIONS OUT THERE?

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Profile picture for lcs067 @lcs067

I am exactly there with you. I am 57, hold a full time job (thank god mainly remote - because I do not sleep enough to drive half the time) I have had to push through multiple projects this week on zero sleep (have not slept in 5 days) and I take care of my granddaughter one day on the weekends. Debilitating insomnia - 20+ years. Severe rebound insomnia when I run out of meds. I've been on everything. Have to get away from the Ambien. Only have trazadone - pretty worthless. I want to cry. It makes me angry. I get extremely agitated, sensitive to light and noise. Can barely interact with people - I feel like they all think I am crazy. No one understands insomnia. I feel like I'm dying sometimes. Body flooded with cortisol from not sleeping, and the elevated cortisol makes it impossible to sleep. It makes me rageful at the world (and everyone who can sleep), and very depressed - about my life, about my future. I have so many goals - so much I want to do - offer the world and contribute- everything is impacted by my inability to sleep. I exercise - have used CBD, have been in CBT. All of it. Numerous sleep specialists. The mind is a powerful thing.

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@lcs067
I keep away from Ambien as I got tired of waking up the next not knowing knowing what I did while sleeping. The next morning I would find all sorts of crazy stuff in the refrigerator that I tried to cook.
Diphenhydramine and Melatonin do virtually nothing for me.
When I first switched to the carnivore diet I could not sleep for days.
I found a gram of Magnesium glycinate one hour before bedtime and it helped.

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I use one capsule of antihistamine every evening. It helps my sinuses and I sleep soundly. On some days I may have an evening boost of coffee (3 cups). But as long as I take the antihistamine I can sleep, unless I am stressed or upset about something. Then I just have to suffer. I don't take naps that also helps me wind down at night.

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Magnesium citrate can be helpful for sleep and any constipation issues. Eat with food in evening.

Also consider asking about medical cannabis. My loved one was waking up to 6x/night to pee. Since he was prescribed and started medical cannabis microdose of 1:1 cbd or cbd to THC, he sleeps much better, waking only 1-2x/night. With dosing, start low and go slow. When he tried a higher dose he had hallucinations. Gummies and tinctures are healthier than inhaled forms and easier to accurately dose.

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